Multiple-drilling machine



(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Shqt 1 T. T. PROSSER. MULTIPLE DRILLING MACHINE.

No. 244,297. Pate'nted July 12, 18 81..

lV ttnesses:

v Inventor: fwd/K45 (Zizz i V. PETERS, Phololithugnphlr. Wgnhington, D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented July 12, 1881;

Phnloljlmgrapher, wumn m. 01a

- T. T.-PROS SER-. MULTIPLE DRILLING MAGHINE. ,297

(M'odeL) I UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

TREAT T. PROSSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MULTIPLE-DRILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,297, dated July 12, 1881.

Application filed March 18,1830. (Model) To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TREAT T. PROSSER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drilling-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

One object of my invention was to provide a drilling-machine adapted to drill with great rapidity the numerous small ventilating-holes through the plates of the iron shells of revolving-cylinder grain-cars, such as described in various United States patents issued to me February 17, A. D. 1880.

Another object of my invention was to so construct this drilling-machine that the plates may be bent to the required segmental form in feeding them through the machine in the progress of the drilling.

' To these ends my invention consists of certain mechanical combinations specifically stated in the claims at the close of this specificat-ion, and made up out of mechanical instrumentalities, of which the following are the principal: A series of drill-spindles, a slideframe for supporting the drill-spindles and for lifting them all together, a bed-roller, preferably of wood, for supporting the plate against the action of the drills, rollers acting in concert with the bed-roller for feeding and bending the plate, and a separate automatic feed device for each drill-spindle. Various minor instrumentalities are also employed to make up some of the combinations claimed.-

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have illustrated in the annexed drawings and will proceed to describe the best form thereof so far known to me, it being understood that the details of construction may be considerably varied without changing the essential nature of the machine.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved drilling-machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same in a plane at right angles to the row of drill-spindles.

A refers to the frame-work of the machine, of which the housings A A form a part. The drill-spindles B, which are in this instance set in a single row, are arran ged between the housings and are mounted on a slide-frame, G, the

ends of which are fitted in suitable gnideways in said housings. In its lowest position the slide-frame O rests upon cross-bars a of the housings. The drill-spindles turn in bearings of the beams c and 0 of the slide-frame, and,

projecting through said beams, terminate at their lower ends in suitable sockets or chucks, in which the drills are to be secured. The upper end of each drill-spindle is also provided with a socket to receive one end of a rod, d, the other end of which enters a socketin the side of a lever, D, which is fulcrumed at d to the top of the slide-frame O, and carries at its free end a weight, I), which may be connected thereto in any suitable manner, preferably in such a way that it may be adjusted, in order that the pressure of the weighted lever on the drill-spindle may be regulated. The weighted levers for the several drill-spindles are sepa levers D. The pulleys B are driven by separate belts B from a drum-pulley, F, common to all the belts B and mounted on a shaft carrying a fast and a loose pulley to receive the belt from the line-shaft.

G refers to the bed-roller, the journals of which rest in boxes G fitted in guideways of the housings, and supported on jack-screws G by which said boxes may be adjustedfor the purpose of elevating or lowering the bedroller; The apex of the bed-roller lies in the plane of the axes of the several drill-spindles. This bed-roller supports the plate to be drilled against the action of the drills, and is prefer ably made of wood, to prevent injury to the fine drills on passing through the plate in the act of drilling it. The bed-roller might be made of metal, in which case it should have annular grooves in its surface to accommodate the drill-points on passing through the plate.

The metal rollers H and H, the journals of which turn in fixed boxes or bearings of the housings, are arranged above the bed-roller on opposite sides of the row of drill-spindles, and act in concert with the bed-roller to hold the plate to be drilled firmly in position and to feed it.

In order to afford convenient means for turning the bed-roller to advance the plate as required, the journals of said roller extend through their boxes, and are provided with heads G containing sockets in their peripheral surfaces for the insertion of a handspike. The bed-roller can be adjusted by the jack-screws Gr with reference to the rollers H audH, so that the feeding of the plate may be accompanied by a bending action or not, as may be required. In drilling plates for my patented perforated-cylinder grain-cars, I so adjust the bed-roller that the plates will be bent to the requisite segmental form in feeding them through the machine.

In order that the drills may be lifted to admit of the introduction of the plate to be drilled and preparatory to feeding, the slideframe 0 is connected by chains I I to a pair of levers, K K, connected by a shaft, K, which turns or is supported in bearings on the housings. In turning the levers down the chains are wound up, so as to lift the slide: frame, with its drill-spindles and adjuncts, high enough for clearing the drill-points from the plate. The plate may then be passed over the bed-roller to bring a given line of the plate in position under the drills. In lowering the slide-frame onto its supporting cross-bars a of the housings it sinks a distance slightly in excess of the thickness of the plate below the line where the drill-points touch the plate first, and causes the lifting to that extent of the drillspindles and their weighted levers with reference to itself. Hence the weighted levers will,

feed the drills the exact distance required.

The lifting-lever K is caught by a springhook detent, L, when depressed, so that the slide-frame, with its drills, may be held sus pended in its elevated position.

The weighted levers constitute desirable feed devices for the drill-spindles, because they exert a practically uniform pressure, and can be readily adjusted to give more or less pressure but other independent automatic feed devices may be used in lieu thereof, such as springs, for instance. The slide-frame might be'elevated by cams or other means instead of by levers and chains, as described. Infine, the details described for operating the essential parts may be greatly varied, as before stated, without changing the essential nature of the machine.

By the provision of an independent automatic feed device for each separate drill-spindle the great difficulty of operating anumber of drills in concert is entirely overcome. There being only a given amount of pressure exerted on each drill-spindle, all danger of breaking the drills, or any one of them, by undue pressure or feed is obviateda very important consideration where small drills for drilling fine holes are to be used, as in the case of using the machine for drilling the fine ventilatingholes of the plates of my patented cylinder grain-cars.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a multiple-drilling machine for drilling simultaneously a series of holes in metal, the arrangement of the drills of the series separately on the same sliding frame, jointly with the separate weighted feed-levers arranged therewith, as described.

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a drill-spindle and a bed-roller for supporting the plate to be drilled against the action of the drill.

3. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a drill-spindle and a wooden bedroller for supporting the plate to be drilled against the action of the drill.

4. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a drill-spindle, a bed-roller, anda pair of rollers above the bed-roller, the bedroller and upper rollers being adjustable with reference to each other.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

TREAT .T. PRO-SSER.

Witnesses WM. HANSBROUGH, O. W. DEAN. 

